Viral content is everywhere on the internet. People are always saying that a video “went viral”, which usually means it received a vast amount of views in a short amount of time. There’s a lot of psychology that goes into creating a viral video, though, and a lot of skill for those who are attempting to achieve viral success. Viral content is, in and of itself, emotional content. And emotional content will always drive people to share, comment, and send the video to their friends.

It has been demonstrated that practical, useful, surprising content goes viral more quickly, because the person sharing it is seen in a more positive light for having done so. Causing someone to be positively affected is one of the easiest ways to create a viral video, but the “shock and awe” factor also helps to make a video share-worthy.

There are many ways to ensure that the content you’re creating will be shared, possibly even at a viral level, but in order to really make the best out of all the knowledge pertaining to how to make a video that will be a hit, you need some actionable steps. This infographic can help you understand the psychological basics of human behavior, and steps regarding how to apply that behavior to your video creation.

Mobile email marketing campaigns fail all the time. Not all business owners take the time to figure out why their campaign failed or have the foresight to avoid common mistakes before their mobile email marketing campaigns hit the ground running. The email marketing experts at Reachmail recently did some research into common reasons why mobile email marketing campaigns fail. They found that over 40% of all emails are opened on mobile devices. With more and more consumers opening emails on mobile devices, it is crucial to make sure your mobile email marketing campaign does not fail. You can try to optimize emails for mobile, but if you have no coordinated strategy are you going to end up costing your company money and your mobile strategy is likely to be a bust. Below are 7 ways to ensure that your company runs an unsuccessful mobile email campaign.

You lack an integrated strategy. Email optimization for mobile is a very key component to any mobile optimization strategy. You also need to ensure your site is properly optimized for mobile as well. Your email conversations won’t matter much if your site is not properly optimized for mobile viewing.

You forget about scale. 7 out of 10 American’s wear corrective lenses, so reading tiny content on their smart phone is not something most people are going to enjoy. This can lead to a loss of conversions. 70% of users will delete an email right away if it doesn’t display properly on their mobile device. Make sure you optimize for standard Smartphone width.

You do not pay attention to when your emails are sent. 23.6% of all emails are opened within an hour of receiving. If your emails are being sent when your users aren’t engaged they are going to get lost and your conversions rates are going to suffer. Mobile engagement is at its highest at 10A.M.-Noon so be sure and target your users then.

You skip important demographics. Segmentation by demographics is cited as the #1 most effective method of mobile email marketing. Make sure you understand your demographics for mobile specifically and adjust your content accordingly.

You are only focusing on one mobile platform. Optimize for every device even if it seems like your audience is mainly using a single device like an iPhone. Also optimize readability for every width.

Your call-to-action is hidden. 61% of mobile users will leave a mobile site quickly if they don’t see what they are looking for. Make sure your users don’t have to scroll too far to find your call-to-action.

You make purchasing difficult. Link directly to your featured products from your emails. Don’t make your users have to search for the product on your site. Make it as easy as possible for them to purchase directly from the email.

Avoid this common problems and your mobile email conversion rates will soar.ReachMail

I recently had the opportunity to check out Content Runner, a service that helps you find quality writers. Weird, I know, why does a writer need to find writers? Well, the truth is that I sometimes take on a lot of projects, and have other writers create some of the articles so that I can keep my content fresh for clients.

To do this I use systems like Content Runner to make my life easier. Now, before I get too far, I will be honest with you – I was given a review account to check out Content Runner. However, to be objective and provide you with the best information possible I will provide you with a balanced approach that discloses some of the shaky things about this site as well as the benefits of using this system. I broke this review into the different sections of the site that I found useful or interesting (screenshots included for reference).

Style Guide

First, they have a cool style guide section already completed, where you can add or subtract different styling information you require for the site. I found this more useful than the approach taken by other sites like iWriter or TextBroker, where you have to write in every project bid what you expect from the writers.

One note: Content Runner talks about citing official sources and using headers. However, they do not touch on telling writers to make sure the grammar and spelling is up to snuff. While this might sound obvious, I included it because some writers just need to need that gentle reminder.

The other benefit to this, is that if you have multiple clients you can create multiple style guides for each client. Therefore, if one client is on grammar patrol, and another is more concerned about SEO then you can specify each client’s needs in separate style guides.

Ease of Use

The ordering process is easy enough for your kindergartener to do it (so hide the username and password from them). From the dashboard you click “Post Your Order.” Then a small pop up screen appears with your Order Request.

Next, you either fill out the form or upload your request into the form. For those who fill out the form, you just need to include the article notes about the topic along with the word count, deadline, and price. Remember that the style guide will provide your writers with the general criteria, so you do not have to keep repeating yourself every time you need an article on what you need.

The whole process, once your style guide is set up should take you no more than 5 minutes. Remember to check the article after you submit it to ensure that everything is correct. You can start getting offers from writers on your articles immediately. Then you approve the writer that fits your needs.

White Label WordPress Exporter

One of the coolest things I found while using Content Runner was their WordPress exporter plugin. This plugin enables you to post any content directly from Content Runner straight to your site without have to log on, or copy and paste files.

They even have a white label option for marketing firms outsourcing their content for clients. That way, you can import the content, and your clients will not be the wiser when they are on your WordPress site that you purchased content from Content Runner.

Writer List with Favorites and Blocked List

The final Feature on Content Runner is the Writers List. You can favorite and block writers you like and dislike as you go. Also, you can take into consideration what other clients thought of the writers as well. This way if someone has two or more blocks, you can block them as well from even applying for your article.

Need to be able to do full edits on instructions

The major downside that I saw on the articles is that once you have submitted an article you are not allowed to make edits without deleting the article entirely. If one aspect of your article changes, it is nice to be able to change that one specific area without having to start all over.

However, since your article is live I do understand why Content Runner does this. The only thing I would say is that, if you have to approve the writer in the first place, allow the clients to edit the article requests up to the point of the publication. That way, if you need to change the price for example to attract more talent, you can do so with ease.

It was driving me a bit crazy, because I play with how things look and feel. In other words, I want to be able to edit things the entire time until the article is with the writer. The lack of an editing feature would make it easier.

Content Runner Summary

Overall, I found the site very easy to use, and great for client work. As someone who writes and hires out writers as well for WordPress projects, the plugin to be one of my favorite add-ons to the entire site.

Since, I am new to the site I will update you also on anything new that I find as I keep using the site. Just approved my first writer to create an article, and am impressed with how easy the process is at Content Runner. Let me know if you have any questions on Content Runner below.

How does Google afford to provide a free search service to the public? Due to its popularity, Google allows users to search free while charging advertisers fees for increased exposure. Before, it was easy for users to decipher between paid and organic listings. Users assumed organic listings were based on Google’s complex algorithm, presenting searchers with the ‘top’ or ‘best’ results.

However, modifications, driven by the dollar, occurred over time. As one will find below, the modern-day design looks a lot different from before, especially regarding local listings. For example, users need to wade through Google’s carousel, seven pack, Google-owned Zagat ratings, and paid searches to (finally) find organic results, which only account for less than 10% of the information offered on results page.

Google’s money-based modifications disturb both users and advertisers. Modern users wonder what results are listed due to vendor merit and which because of commercial intent. Moreover, vendors feel pressure to advertise, feeling organic, search engine optimization efforts are futile in comparison to paying Google for greater exposure and impending clicks. Read about what age group and gender has a tendency to click more paid ads. Also, learn the percentage between organic and paid-ad clicks. Results, stats, and assumed Google intent will surprise you.

Join us tomorrow night for an interview with +Amy Baxter on she went from a bad incident with her son getting a shot to a fully fledged company.

Amy Baxter MD- – CEO, inventor, founder, visionary, dynamo – there are not enough words to describe this amazingly talented and inspiring leader. She keeps the Buzzy Team moving at an incredible pace while juggling a research career, pediatric emergency practice, husband and three kids under the age of 17! Loves teaching, sci-fi, ska, and drinks more coffee than anyone else in the planet.